Toros’ Cano Is Upset Over Snub by NCAA Selection Committee

Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer Coach Marine Cano said he went to sleep Sunday night thinking his team had earned a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The defending national champion Toros, the nation’s top-ranked team for most of the season, had finished the regular season with a 17-3 record. The Toros were ranked No. 6 in the latest poll and Cano expected that the team would earn one of the six playoff berths.

But the Toros were in disbelief Monday after learning that they had been passed up by the NCAA selection committee.

“It’s just inconceivable to me that we’re not going to be in the playoffs,” Cano said. “The players did everything they could’ve done and the university did, too. It’s just very frustrating.”

Although the Toros were ranked No. 6 in the final rankings, the committee selected Sonoma State and Northern California Athletic Conference champion Cal State Chico over the Toros.

Dominguez Hills finished with a better record than Sonoma State (13-4) and Chico (15-3-2) and had placed second to Sonoma State in the West Region rankings. Chico was No. 3.

However, the Toros were victimized by an NCAA bylaw that says the selection committee must choose the champion of a conference before it can select any other team from a conference.

Dominguez Hills was also upset about how Chico won the NCAC title. The Wildcats didn’t play their final regular season game against San Francisco State because of a scheduling problem and the conference ruled Saturday that the game would be forfeited to Chico.

As a result of the forfeit, Chico wound up as conference champion. Because Chico was the conference champion and Sonoma State was listed higher than Dominguez Hills in the national and West Region rankings, the Toros were the odd team out. Sonoma State and Chico will meet in the first round of the playoffs this weekend at Sonoma.

“In the national (playoff) scenario, there was no situation in which they could have taken Sonoma and Dominguez Hills without Chico,” said NCAA assistant director of championships Phil Buttafuoco.

Dominguez Hills was hurt by the fact that there are no automatic qualifiers for the Division II playoffs. The Toros won the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. title.

The Toros were also upset because they had defeated Chico, 4-3.

“I think because of the fact that we have one of the best records in the country and we beat Chico in our only head-to-head matchup, that warranted selecting us to the tournament,” Dominguez Hills Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said.

The Toros felt even more secure about their playoff possibilities after defeating 11th-ranked Northern Colorado, 4-0, on Sunday.

“It’s never easy when you end your season with a loss,” Guerrero said. “But when you end your season with a win like that, you figure you’re going to play another day.”

Cano was convinced that his team had a good chance of defending its national title.